//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: Ghost Squad 
// by Sollace 
//------------------------------//

3:00 AM, Sugar Cube Corner, Ponyville

Rainbow Dash trotted out of Sugar Cube Corner trailing droplets of icing behind her as she went. She tossed her Harmony Pack to the ground outside and headed straight out into the open far away from the horrid smell inside.

“Rainbow Dash, wait!” Pinkie Pie came after, screaming for her to come back as she bounded past the half destroyed storefront.

Rainbow gave her no mind. The turned up her nose and picked up her pace. Right now all she wanted to do was get back home, grab a bottle of disinfectant, a good read— She faintly remembered that her Daring Doo book would likely be filed away with the Atlases in Twilight’s library by now, so not that good a read— and let the bubbles and bath salts soak away all of her troubles.

“You can’t go!” Pinkie came round from the side, holding her hooves up to Rainbow’s chest and pressing for her to stop, “We promised Twilight we’d help her with these ghost thingies,” she was looking at her with a pleading glare.

“No,” Rainbow Dash shook her head, spraying Pinkie’s face with flakes of cheese, “I can’t.” She moved to push Pinkie out of the way, but she refused to budge, “I don’t care what happens, I’m not coming back here until”—she gestured across her whole body—“this is all fixed.”

“Come on Rainbow. It can’t be that bad.”

“I’m tired, I’m dirty, and I smell horrible. It will take me at least ten trips to the spa t—” Rainbow cut herself off having noticed Pinkie’s glare. A bright red blush came over her and she averted her eyes, rubbing a hoof behind her head, “I mean— It’s just—I’m not a Rarity, okay?”

“Mhm,” Pinkie nodded, “... sure you’re not,” and the look on her face telling the whole story.

“Really, I’m not!” Rainbow insisted, and trotted around Pinkie, “Now out of my way, I’m taking off.” She trotted forward a few more steps, stopping to stretch her back and spread her wings.


She struggled to get them free from her side, and when they finally were she stared, mortified, at the layers of cake dripping off of them. Her primaries hung limp under the weight, and many of the smaller feathers clumped together horribly. “Eugh,” Rainbow grimaced and immediately set to work trying to straighten them out.

Pinkie jumped at the opportunity whilst Rainbow was distracted, “Come on, Dashie,”—she stepped around the side, wrapping a hoof over Rainbow’s withers and pulling her into a hug—“Don’t give up now!” She said.

Rainbow blinked up at Pinkie’s grinning, cake smeared face, “Pinkie, y—”

INCOMING!

Both ponies jolted to attention as Twilight’s voice cut through the night, echoing across the town over top a loud commotion several blocks away—as it somepony were banging trashcan lids together.

Rainbow and Pinkie separated and ran in the direction of the noise, stopping at the head of Mane Road to watch as a there was an explosion several blocks away. A grey blur sped out from one of the side roads, turning up the road and heading straight their way for Sugar Cube Corner.

Twilight and Ditzy came, the former bursting from the rooftops waving a butterfly net in her aura, and the latter flying out at street level, her own net clenched firmly in her teeth as she bolted after Dinky.

The two swerved wildly around the corner, closing in on Dinky. Twilight pulled up suddenly and sent her net down to capture the filly, with Ditzy pulling up beside Dinky and raising her own net to try the same.

Both nets came down in unison, with Dinky teleporting out of the way at the last minute, “Wha—”Ditzy flew forwards directly in front of Twilights net, “Ah!” The net lodged itself over her head, sending her flailing to the ground in the filly’s wake.

All this happened in a matter of a few seconds, as Rainbow and Pinkie watched from the sidelines gaping. There was another flash of magic nearer by and Twilight was heard screaming again, “Don’t let her get away!”

They jumped to attention, shutting their jaws and keeping eyes glued to the filly speeding their way. She was still looking over her shoulder, watching with a grin as Twilight and Ditzy struggled with their nets in the background.

At only a few feet away, Dinky turned back around and swerve upon seeing the two mares ahead. She almost skidded to a halt, but changed her mind and leapt ahead, swerving at the last moment and ducking between Rainbow’s legs.

Rainbow and Pinkie had only a moment to respond. They both jumped at the filly at the same time, failing to notice either other positions and kicking heads.

More giggling and a short snort were heard as Dinky continued on her way, leaving everypony in a confused daze.


~ ~ ~


“Owie...” Pinkie Pie groaned and rolled onto her back. She rubbed the bump on her head as she looked to Rainbow Dash beside her, who was doing much the same, “Your head is haard, Dashie.”

“What are you doing on the ground!?” Twilight arrived next to the bundle of dazed mares, now holding Ditzy’s net. Her mane was frayed and frazzled and she was panting heavily as she trotted closer to the heap of tangled limbs in front of her.

“Which way did she—” Twilight suddenly stopped inches away from Rainbow Dash. Her face scrunched up into a grimace and she took an extra few steps back, holding a hoof over her mouth as she continued, “What’s that smell?”

Rainbow let out a silent groan and Pinkie jumped back to her hooves, “Oh!” She pulled Rainbow up beside her and motioned to the mare with a hoof, “That’s just—”

“Nothing!” Rainbow Dash cut in, shoving a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth and pushing the mare behind her back. Her mouth spread into a wide grin and she ran a hoof through her mane trying to distract from her embarrassment, “I, uh, don’t want to talk about it.”

Whilst avoiding Twilight’s gaze, Rainbow noticed Ditzy approaching, still with Twilight’s net stuck over her head. The Pegasus trotted slowly around the group, swerving slightly as she passed behind Twilight. She stopped beside the Alicorn and finally freed her head with a loud pop, accidentally dropping the net.

She blushed and leaned over to pick it up. Twilight coughed, calling Rainbow’s attention, “Well,” she rolled her eyes, still keeping her distance, “Have any of you seen Dinky go past here?”

“About yay high,”— Pinkie started, lifting out a hoof to measure a height about to her waist,— 

Rainbow added, “Grey, and cackling maniacally?” 

Twilight’s eyes lit up, “Yes, that’s her!” Twilight leaned forward to question further, “Do you know where she went?”

“She went that way,” both mare spoke in unison, pointing in completely opposite directions.

Twilight facehoofed, “... really,” she groaned.

“Why are you trying to catch her anyway?”

“She’s been possessed somehow and Ditzy—” she flashed a glare at the mare beside her, who returned with a grin and took a step away from Twilight’s side – “won’t let us use the packs on her. Plus nopony said she could teleport! I’ve been running ragged trying to catch this filly!”

“I would’ve told you if I knew, Twilight,” Ditzy offered from the sidelines, however nopony seemed to be listening as Twilight went on to talk about something else.

Deciding she was not needed there, Ditzy turned her attention to searching for Dinky. She left the group and took flight, ascending to a good height where she could see the entire square and turned her eyes to the ground.

Ditzy suppressed the urge to snicker, everypony considered a klutz, on account of her clumsiness. But that didn't mean she was stupid, or useless. Pegasi are always known for heaving wonderful eyesight and she was no exception. Her crossed eyes simply meant she could see... twice as much.

She remained aloft there for several minutes, scanning for any signs of movement. So far all she’d picked up was Daisy and Roseluck several blocks over, pushing Lilly home in a wheelbarrow. She could see one of the houses on the west side rumbling—but Vinyl’s place was always doing that.

Meanwhile the other eye was tuned towards the group of ponies below, Rainbow Dash and Twilight in a heated debate whilst a dented Harmony Pack floated between them, and Pinkie trying to mediate—though she didn’t seem to be making it any better.

Ditzy sighed, it didn’t seem like she was going to find Dinky from up here, and was beginning her descent when a flash of movement suddenly caught her eye. She turned to follow it back towards Sugar Cube Corner. Squinting hard, she was able to focus both eyes towards the building, and could see movement around the front. There was a grey figure poking its head out from around the building, and as she watched it ducked away out of sight, “Bingo.”

Quickening her descent, Ditzy flew back down into the group and landed next to Twilight. Shoving Pinkie out of the way she rushed up to whisper into her ear, “Twilight, don’t look now”

Ditzy tipped her head towards Sugar Cube Corner, “But she’s right there,”

“Uh, what?” Rainbow asked.

“Shhhhh” Ditzy shushed Rainbow, pulling two of the ponies closer to her and pointing in the direction of Sugar Cube Corner.

Sure enough, there was the filly creeping around the building with a wicked grin on her face. She didn’t seem to have noticed them yet, and was slowly making her way to the open hole in the front.

Everypony went completely silent, watching the filly along her journey until she reached the front of the building. She had her front hoof through the hole and was looking very proud of herself when she turned back glance directly at the group.

Her grin was completely gone. She froze on the spot, dropping her ears as she stared directly into Twilight’s eyes.

“Girls,” Twilight whispered, not taking her eyes off the filly, “No. Sudden. Movements.”

Twilight’s net slowly levitated beside her and she motioned for Pinkie and Rainbow to follow her lead.

Everypony remained deathly quiet as they slowly started to approach the filly. Rainbow and Pinkie moved to flank around the sides, cutting off her escape route, whilst Twilight and Ditzy lead the way and began to close in from the front.

Dinky, who had been remarkably calm for most of this, let out a tiny whimper and took a step back. Ditzy moved forwards, her hooves outstretched, as she attempted to comfort the filly, “Now Dinky,” she whispered, “Don’t be afraid, Twilight’s here to help.”

Dink whimpered again and took another step back. She glanced around at the mares enclosing around her, bore her teeth into a snarl, and darted back into the building.

“Get her!” Twilight screamed and suddenly the chase was on.

Everypony set off at full speed towards the filly, Rainbow Dash taking flight for only a brief moment before she clipped a hoof on her Harmony Pack, throwing up a trail of icing as she ran an arc across Twilight’s vision and directly into Pinkie Pie.

They both collapsed to a heap and Twilight leapt over them, holding her net high and letting loose a battle cry as she took flight and followed Ditzy into the building.


~ ~ ~


Ditzy was the first inside. She ducked her head and pulled her wings in as she flew through the opening and into the dark room beyond. Directly ahead, past the mound of cake, she spotted Dinky facing the other way as she stared into the portal, “Dinky!” She screamed.

The filly jolted around, her eyes brightly, almost blending perfectly with the given off by the portal behind her. She had a look of surprise about her and Ditzy’s heart leapt at the faint shine of recognition. However as soon as it was there, it was gone again. Dinky’s mouth turned up into a wicked grin and she stepped back towards the portal, raising a hoof to salute as she let herself sink through the soft surface.

As soon as Dinky was gone from view, the portal began to close. It’s swirling changed and it began to shrink rapidly and Ditzy did the only thing she could. She gritted her teeth and screamed “Momma’s coming!” pulled in her wings and dived headlong through the portal.

Moments later Twilight came flying into the lobby in much the same way, holding her net in front of her and almost knocking off another piece of the building in her wake, “Wait for m— Woah!” She swerved to avoid the pile of cake, flipping over in the process and barrelling towards the narrowing portal.

She braced herself, discarding the net, and squeezing her eyes shut. With a flash of her magic, she added an extra burst of speed, sucking in her princess belly and barrelling towards the shrinking portal.


~ ~ ~


?:?? AM, Sugar Cube Corner, Ponyville

“... Twilight?” Rainbow’s voice came distant.

“Twilight, are you okay!?” Pinkie Pie’s voice joined her.

“Ugh,” Twilight groaned and lifted a hoof to her beating head. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw what looked like a pink mare with a rainbow mane, “Pinkie?”

The pony scoffed, and sat back crossing her hooves, “Pfft. Try again, egghead.”

Twilight slowly sat up. As she did so she heard several pots and pans clanging to the ground beside her, and felt pieces of plaster tumbling off her mane. This only brought on her migraine ever more, “Rainbow Dash?” As her vision began to clear, the image of Rainbow Dash became more apparent, though Twilight could see where the pink was coming from. Whatever Rainbow was covered in was clearly beginning to go off, as it turned her mane and coat a kind of luminous pink.

Pinkie was sitting at her side with a stethoscope and a basket of muffins, eating one whilst she checked Twilight’s vitals.

“W- What happened?” Twilight asked in a daze.

“Dude,” Rainbow Dash said, “You totally went straight through the wall.”

“I... did?” Expanding her gaze, Twilight took in her surroundings. She was slumped with her back to the wall in Sugar Cube Corner’s kitchen, below a rather noticeable indentation in the wall and opposite an equally as noticeable hole] in the wall. Through which she could see clear past a mountainous pile of cake to the front of the building.

Twilight’s memory jogged and she jumped to her hooves, pushing Pinkie off of her, “Wait,” She looked around her frantically, then trotted out into the front part of the building to resume looking there.

Pinkie and Rainbow followed her out, watching as Twilight paced the room and looked around every nook and cranny. The place seemed an awful lot darker than before and the only ponies she could see in the room were herself, Rainbow, and Pinkie. “W-Where’s Derpy?” 

They both frowned and looked between them, “Do you mean Ditzy?”

“She’s gone, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash added.

Twilight felt herself beginning to hyperventilate, “Oh, no. Oh nononono,” she trotted one last round of the room, making sure she hadn’t missed some place or that the pony wasn’t just hiding somewhere. She’d missed none, of course, “This is bad. This is so, so, so bad.” She stopped at the confectionaries counter to lean against it, focusing on her breathing.

“Um, Twi?”

There has to be some way to get the portal back, Twilight though to herself, “Okay, okay,” She moved over to where the portal had been, lighting up her horn as she did do, “Maybe Strat-olociom plus Suminari,” She cast the hybrid spell and directed the magic towards the empty air above the crushed remains of the cash register.

A new portal opened up but Rainbow noted its difference in colour. The previous one had been green whilst this one shone a bright purple, “Uh, Twilight.”

Twilight ignored her friends as she ran through the portal, jumping at the last minute screaming, “Geronimare!”

The portal burst into a shower of sparks with a resounding pop leaving Twilight to fall straight through to the ground with a thud.

“Twilight” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I’m okay!” Twilight shouted, jumping to her hooves and resuming her thinking, “There has to be some residual energy here, some way to open the portal back up.” She trotted across the room, into the pile of cake and stopped with her brow furrowed in thought. She didn’t even notice as she began to sink fetlock deep into the mound of cake, “... maybe is I use Tempora-borialus? No,” She shook off the idea, “That would never work.”

Rainbow Dash asked again, “Twilight, I think we should move on.”

“Move on?” Twilight looked up from her spot, now up to her knees in the cake, “...” She looked forlornly at the space where the portal was before, “... but what about—”

“We won’t get it back, but maybe if we go to one of the other houses—“

Twilight’s eyes lit up, “There might be another one! You’re a genius, Rainbow Dash!” She teleported over to Rainbow and pulled her into a hug, beaming as she did so. Rainbow tried to pull away. She was lucky the cake had her already covered pink.

Releasing the mare, Twilight continued, “Our best chance of finding Derpy—”

“Ditzy” Pinkie corrected.

“Ditzy,” Twilight continued, “Is to find the source of these apparitions. We find the source, we find Derpy.”

“Ditzy.”

“So where do we go then?”

“The place it started,” Twilight paused, “Or, well, the place I think it started: Applejack’s barn. We’ll just have to hope Ditzy can manage by herself.”


~ ~ ~


“Dinky?” Ditzy’s voice sounded small as it squeaked out into the expansive void, echoing away into the distance. She was standing in the middle what she could only describe as pea soup. There was a glowing green fog rolling around in every direction making it hard to see. The sky also burned with a bright luminous white that hurt her eyes any time she tried to look up.

“Dinky, where are you?” Shielding her eyes, Ditzy squinted ahead into the distance. She was sure that the filly had gone this way, but she’d quickly vanished into the fog and now she couldn’t even hear her voice.

All Ditzy heard now where the distant whispers, and snickers, and the faint shadows of movement in the fog. On multiple occasions she thought she saw the filly out of the corner of her eye, but every time she turned around or managed to reach the point she’d seen it, there was nothing there.

Ditzy’s ears flattened, and she took a seat, “Aw... I wish Twilight was here.” She dragged a hoof through the red dirt as she thought out loud, “I’m sure she’d know what to do...”

Hehehe...

A snicker reached Ditzy’s ears making her perk back up. She glanced around her; “Hello?” twisting her ears to find the source, “Is anypony there?”

Hahaha....

The voice sounded again. It was a deep baritone, smooth and melodic, almost enchanting. Nothing like what Dinky sounded like but it was still completely different from anything else Ditzy had heard, “Hello?” She tumbled to her hooves and started in the direction of the voice.

As she want it quickly grew louder, and a form became visible ahead, “Dinky?” Ditzy asked and picked up her pace. Growing closer she only became surer of herself. It was definitely Dinky, standing there waiting for her.

“Dinky!” Ditzy screamed, reaching the filly and putting a hoof over her shoulder. She spun her around, “Dinky, I’ve been looking all ov—” She cut her self off, “... no.”

She stumbled backwards, “No,” shaking her head, her eyes not able to tear themselves away, “No.”




CHRYSTALLLSSSS